神僧傳 4.27

4.27

釋植相。姓郝氏。梓潼涪人。嘗任巴西郡吏。太守鄭貞令相齎獻物。下揚都見梁祖王公崇敬佛教。便願出家。乃還蜀決誓。家屬并其妻子。既同相志一時剪落。自出家後專習苦行一食常坐。正心佛理以命自期。時南武郡有法愛道人。高衒道術相往觀之。愛於夕中自以呪力現一大神。身著衣冠容相瑰偉。來舉繩床離地四五尺。便誦戒神即馳去。斯須復來舉床。僅動一角如前復去。俄爾又來在相前立。相正意貞白初無微動。尋爾復去於屋頭現。面舍棟破裂其聲甚大。相亦無懼神見不動。便來禮拜求哀懺悔。至旦語愛曰。汝所重者此是邪術。非正法也。可捨之相因行路寄宿道館。道士有素。聞相名。恐化徒屬拒不延之。其夜群虎繞院相吼。道士等通夕不安。及明追之從受菩薩戒焉。又曾行弘農水側。見人垂釣相勸止之。不從其言。即唾水中。忽有大蛇擎頭四顧。來趣釣者。因即歸命。投相出家。後因梁末軍亂。入青城山聚徒集業。未暇經始。適便遷化。初相置足於綿州城西柏林寺。院宇成就。於堂頭植梧桐一株。極為繁茂。夏月忽無故葉落。又維那旦打鐘初不發聲。大小疑怪不測所以。上座僧謂有大變執錫逃避。須臾信報。相已終。乃知樹枯鐘噎表其遷化之晨也。弟子㘅命露屍松下焉。

Shi Zhixiang, surnamed Hao, was a native of Fu in Zitong. He once served as a minor clerk in Baxi Commandery. Grand Protector Zheng Zhen ordered Xiang to take tribute items down to the capital Yangdu, where he saw Emperor Wu of Liang, princes, and dukes venerating the Buddhist teachings, whereupon he wished to renounce household life. He returned to Shu to take his resolute vow. His family members, together with his wife and children, sharing Xiang's aspiration, had their hair shaved off all at once. After renouncing household life, he devoted himself to ascetic practices, eating one meal a day and always sitting up, keeping his mind focused on Buddhist principles and dedicating his life to it. At that time, in Nanwu Commandery, there was a man of the Way named Fa'ai who boastfully displayed magical arts; Xiang went to observe him. In the evening, Ai used his own mantra power to manifest a great deity, dressed in robes and cap, with an imposing and majestic appearance, which came and lifted the rope bed four or five feet off the ground. Xiang then recited the precepts, and the deity immediately ran away. A moment later it came back and lifted the bed, moving only one corner, and retreated as before. Shortly after, it came again and stood in front of Xiang. Xiang kept his mind upright and pure, without the slightest stir. Soon after, it left again and manifested its face on the roof; the beams of the building cracked with a very loud noise. Xiang was also without fear. Seeing that he was unmoved, the deity came forward to bow, pleading for mercy and repenting. In the morning, Xiang said to Ai, "What you value is heterodox arts, not the correct Dharma; you should abandon it." Later, travelling along the road, Xiang stayed overnight at a Daoist abbey. The Daoist priests, who had heard of Xiang's renown, feared he would convert their followers and refused to admit him. That night, a pack of tigers circled the courtyard, roaring at one another. The Daoist priests were uneasy the entire night. At dawn, they pursued him and received the bodhisattva precepts from him. He also once walked along the bank of the Hongnong River and saw someone angling with a line; Xiang urged him to stop, but the man did not follow his words. Xiang then spat into the water; suddenly a great serpent raised its head, looked in all four directions, and came toward the fisherman. Thereupon the man took refuge, approached Xiang, and renounced household life. Later, because of the military chaos at the end of the Liang, he entered Mount Qingcheng to gather followers and cultivate practice; before he had time to establish it, he passed away. Early on, when Xiang stayed at Bailin Temple west of the city of Mianzhou, after the compound buildings were completed, he planted a parasol tree in front of the main hall, which grew exceedingly luxuriant. In a summer month, its leaves suddenly fell without cause. Furthermore, when the karmadāna struck the bell in the morning, it made no sound at all. Both senior and junior monastics were perplexed and suspicious, not knowing why. The senior monk, thinking there would be a great disaster, grasped his khakkhara staff and fled. In a short while, a message arrived reporting that Xiang had already passed away; only then did they know that the withered tree and choked bell were portents of the morning of his passing. His disciples, carrying out his instruction, exposed his corpse beneath the pines.